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Oregon Legislature passes $376M emergency housing package

The bills are aimed at addressing Oregon's housing and homelessness crisis. They now head to Gov. Tina Kotek's desk for her signature.

PORTLAND, Oregon — The Oregon House passed a pair of housing bills on Monday that are aimed at addressing the state's housing and homelessness crisis.

Senate Bill 1530 and Senate Bill 1537 are part of the $376 million Emergency Housing Stability and Production Package. Lawmakers passed SB 1530 on a 51-6 vote. The bill would make a number of investments including allocating $94.3 million to cities for infrastructure projects to support housing production. It would also direct $18 million in funding for recovery housing projects across the state. SB 1530 also includes a $25 million allocation to the Albina Vision Trust to purchase and redevelop property into affordable housing.

"This package strategically leverages our limited state resources and lowers barriers to building more affordable housing to make a significant impact towards achieving our homelessness relief and housing goals," said Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat from Portland. Dexter is also the chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness. 

The housing package would also allow qualifying cities a one-time expansion of their urban growth boundary. Cities with less than 25,000 people would be able to expand by 50 acres, and cities above that threshold could expand by 100 acres. The cap is 300 acres in the Portland metro area. Thirty percent of housing in any expanded area would be required to be affordable housing.

Lawmakers voted 48-8 to pass Gov. Tina Kotek's bill, Senate Bill 1537. It would fund a series of programs to help local governments overcome barriers that can derail low-income housing projects, like lack of land supply or challenges in building water and sewer services.

"These bills offer a menu of tools that will provide the support needed to ease our housing crisis and help all our communities thrive," Kotek said. "I believe this package will make meaningful progress in fixing our housing shortage while also preserving our land use system and ensuring strong environmental protections."

The bills passed in the Oregon Senate last week and now head to Gov. Tina Kotek's desk for her signature. 

The House is expected to vote Tuesday on House Bill 4134, another bill in the housing package. HB 4134 would bolster specific infrastructure projects to benefit housing developments.

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